Seriously?

So this Dove ad has been getting a lot of controversy and as a designer (someone who actually puts together ads) I think its rather stupid and hilarious. (You can read the full article HERE) Basically what they are alleging is that Dove is racist. Now I know this is in itself a controversial subject but COME ON, really? Its mostly about how the women are lined up, left to right, from dark skin to light skin and thicker to thinner. I seriously doubt that Dove had the intent that they were going to make a plump black woman into a skinny white woman. Sure its probably bad placement with the juxtaposition of the BEFORE and AFTER text, but not the intent. I happen to think that its aesthetically pleasing with the specific poses, and often in designing an ad, the photo is taken and then graphically put together. I give praise to Dove for using "Real" women in their ads, showing all shapes and sizes. I think that in general we have become too sensitive and too politically correct as a nation and need to get over it. Not everything has an underlying meaning. Some need to just get a life if they are really agonizing over this. What do you think? is it racist?

as John Stossel would say " Give me a break"....

CREATE

Productivity and creativity are two of my favorite things, and today I was able to expand on those with some fun and easy tools. I have an iPad, and thanks to adobe I know have some brilliant apps that make my life easier. They introduced some new apps this month and I knew I just had to have them . The first is adobe nav. Which basically puts my photoshop tools onto my iPad for quick and easy switch between and access. I can then also view all my open files on the IPad and then get up and walk my iPad down the office to display the work in real time. How cool is that!



The next one is more of a quick idea on the go app. I can sketch and paint my inspiration quickly and easily whenever I want at the swipe of my finger. And the control is amazing. It is like a water color effect Which I not really know but I am now eager to learn. The artwork above is something I did in about 30 min in bed, it's a sketch of my son Sam. I got about halfway through the coloring process when I realized I need MAJOR work..haha but this may be fun.  This app is simply called adobe ideas.

Check it out!

Silent and Quiet.

Frederick Buechner says "Silence, Cant be anything but silent, Quiet however chooses to be silent. It hold its breath to listen. It waits and is still." To be quiet is to find your strength from HIM alone. Psalm 46:10 calls us "to be still and know I am God.." In Hebrew that translates to rapha which in other words means letting ourselves go or to become weak. And this is what I needed to do so badly this week. I was having one of those weeks where if it could go wrong, it did! On top of the normal stresses of life ( finances, school, parenting etc..) It seemed as though one thing after another was dragging me down. My daughter threw my laptop, someone hit our car window and shattered it, I was audited at school, I spilled screen printing ink all over myself, my kids were fighting and oh my coffee went cold. ( you know, THAT kind of day). It wasn't huge life changing stuff either. We have a warranty, we needed some air conditioning, I'm not in any trouble, ink washes off, kids are kids and its just coffee. But in those moments it seemed like I was going to fall apart. And thats sort of just what I did. I came home after that long day and I just sat in the shower in silence. I knew that I just needed to "be still". To stop stressing and let God take care of it. I got so wrapped up in the moment I forgot who was in charge. Last year I got the words "be still" (harpoo) tattooed on my wrist as a reminder to myself to just stop and listen and let go. I need to remember to become weak because HE is strong. As soon as I did that I could literally feel the weight lifted off my shoulders. I began to feel a peace inside that only He could give. I know I am not alone when it comes to these moments of "strength" as I will call it.. strength that I can do it alone and its all about me. We all have those moments and I hope this blog helps you to feel "weak" when you need it too.